Resilient heel



Nov. 9 1926.

C E. HARRIMAN RESIL'IENT HEEL Original Filed Dec. 14, 1922 Patented Nov. 9, 192.6.

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RESILIENT HE-EL.

Application filed December 14, 1922, Serial No. 606,935. Renewed September I21, 1926.

My present invention relates to resilient heels made of rubber, rubber compound, or a rubber substitute of the general type now in common use, and more particularly to a resilient heel provided with portions or elements adapted to take and absorb the first impact or tread of the wearer.

In the majority of rubber heels as at present constructed, no attempt has been made to provide shock absorbing features designed to take up or absorb the first impact of tread of the wearer, the makers depending upon the character of the material of the heel for effecting this result. In order to obtain a better or longer wearing heel, resilient heels are at present made of a material that, while resilient to a degree, is yet composed of ingredientswhich render it short lived, the material rapidly scouring off in use. .Various means have been devisedand suggested for preventing undue or excessive wear due to the gradual change from a practically pure rubber heel to a resilient heel made of a rubber oom pound such as providing the heel with inserts of a wear-resisting material or with yieldable plugs, movable longitudinally in cut-outs that extend entirely through the thickness of the heel, such plugs being joined to the main heel portion by resilient bridges. In the case where plugs or wearresisting material are used, the very object of providing a resilient heel is defeated, while, in the case where a plug is movable longitudinally in a through passage in the heel, the connecting bridge therefor becomes useless in a short time and a portion of the face of the heel in contact with the heel of the boot or shoe being cut away, insuflicient support for said resilient heel is provided.

With a view to obviating the objections above noted and to producing a resilient heel of rubber, rubber compound, or rubber substitutes which will be subjected to a minimum of wear and thus give a maximum of surface, I have devised projecting resilient plugs formed integral with the main body of the heel and separated from the heel throughout the body portion of such projecting plugs by an annular air channel, the resilient plugs being preferably hollow or substantially tubular in form and having at their base portion the usual metallic washer through which the attaching nail for attaching the rubber heels to a boot or shoe is forced, such projecting resrhent plugs forming practically a flexible nail hole. Such method of construction provides a resilient heel in which the projecting resilient plugs take up or absorb the first impact or tread of the wearer and which are self-centering and act as means for preventing slipping of .the foot of the wearer as he walks. 7 The projecting resilient plugs accommodating themselves to the pavement and having a universal joint movement about their connecting point with the body of the heel are subjected to minimum of wear as is also the main body of the heel, there being a noticeable absence of a scuffing or scouring action.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to improve the gripping efiiciency of theheel and to prevent undue wear of the tread surface of the heel under prolonged use.

in the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of my inven tion,

Fig. 1 is an end plan view, and

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The body 10 of the heel may be molded in the usual manner with the rand 11 to provide better compression at the edgeof the joint between the upper surface 12 of the heel and the leather portion of the boot or shoe to which the heel may be attached. Arranged symmetrically about the heel, as shown, and preferably molded in the heel when formed, are a plurality of projecting resilient plugs 13 formed integral with the main portion of the heel 10 and separated from the main body 10 by an annular passage 14. Each of the projecting resilient plugs 13 is provided with a central longitudinally extending hole 15 which extends entirely through the plug 13 and into the body portion of the heel 10, such hole 15 being in alinement' with the hole in the reenforcing washer 16 for the attaching nails. The outer end of the projecting resilient plugs 18 extend to any desired distance beyond the lower or tread surface 17 of the heel 10.

I have illustrated and described the pro jecting resilient plugs 13 as being cylindrical in shape and surrounded by an annular air passage 14 and have also described such plugs as being symmetrically arranged around the base of the heel 10 and as illustrated in Fig. 1, but it is obvious that I may make the plugs 13 of any desired shape or length, the main feature of the invention residing in the fact that the projecting resilient plugs extend outward beyond the lower or tread surface of the resilient heel to such an extent as to have the ends of such plugs engage the pavement before the lower or tread surface 17 and that such pro jecting resilient plugs are formed integral with, and extend outwardly from, the body portion of the resilient heel 10, such construction insuring the rolling or universal joint movement of the outer end of the resilient plug 13 with respect to the body of the heel. When in use, the ends of the projetting resilient plugs engage with the pavement and center themselves thereon thereby taking up the first impact or tread of the wearer and it is only when the weight of the wearer is placed on the resilient heel that such projecting resilient plug is compressed to an extent sufficient to allow the lower or tread surface of the heel to come into ongagement with the pavement. As, however, at this time the heel is practically stationary, thereis no scufiing or slipping movement to the heel and, therefore, there is no more wear on the heel than would take place from a straight blow and it is apparent that such wear, therefore, is reduced to a minimum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. A resilient molded heel, equipped with spaced apart nail holes and having annular protuberances extending outward from the tread surface thereof at the locality of the respective nail holes, said protuberances separated from the body of the heel for a distance inward of the tread surface by a recess.

2. A resilient molded heel, bearing a plurality of protuberances from the tread surface thereof with nail holes extending centrally through said protuberances, and with the heel body recessed to segregate the portions from which said protuberances extend from the body of the heel for a substantial distance inward from the tread surface of the heel.

8. A resilient molded heel, bearing spaced apart plugs extending outward from the tread surface thereof, with nail holes extending centrally through said plugs, and with the outer portion of the body of the heel recessed around the bases of said plugs inward a substantial distance to promote the 'resiliency thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification CHARLES E. HARRIMAN. 

